ROFL here's a good one

[orange4boy]

Speaking of old school hypermilers, My dad also used to EOC, time lights and draft all the time. He was truly frightening to drive with though as he drove his cars into the ground. Tires were worn out only once you actually saw the cords.

As for the "unbelieving"...

The one person who shocked me was Wayne Gerdes, probably the most famous hypermiler. Basjoos posted on a hybrid forum that they could probably get a bunch more MPG's out of their Prii if they aeromodded them. He brushed off the suggestion saying that the Prius was so "slippery" from the factory that you couldn't really improve it much.

.26Cd to .17Cd is almost 35% better. Hmmm. I guess I should just give up.

[Rokeby]

Originally Posted by orange4boy

Speaking of old school hypermilers, My dad also used to EOC, time lights
and draft all the time. He was truly frightening to drive with though as he
drove his cars into the ground. Tires were worn out only once you actually
saw the cords..

LOL!

At the risk of wearing out my welcome on this thread, here's a piece I
posted at PRIUSchat a long while back:

My father's idea of the truly hot car was the Hudson Hornet.

Throughout his life, the Old Man never owned any car that was in anyway
remarkable except that for the most part they enclosed a large volume.

The first car he owned was a '54 Plymouth wagon, medium blue.

The second was an early '60's VW Microbus. It was the basic model ,
two-tone white over red, without all the little windows around the top.
40 HP if I remember correctly.

A speedometer, no gas gauge; when the engine sputtered
you flipped a little lever beneath the driver's seat to access a one gal.
reserve. (My mother could never remember which way to flip the lever.
Opposite to the reserve was OFF. Panic ensued.)

After I left home for college he owned a series of nondescript second hand
full/mid-size wagons dictated by living on a fixed retirement income.

To my dad cars were appliances or utensils. He never washed them. He
changed the oil twice as often as recommended. He carried a combo hot-
start/tire pump in the back. He ran the tires until at least one was bald.
He kept his cars until "the wheels fell off," or my mother threw a major
tantrum.

All he asked was that when he turned the key they would start.

I wonder if he would have understood my fascination/obsession with
my Prius.

My Old Man never owned a Hornet, he never had the money.

But he did have a memory, or was it a dream?

[Red Lion]

I would say it's a silly thing to say, but it's not silly, just ignorant. The mind of the guy that said it isn't open enough to realize that it's possible to get better than an "average" MPG.

Can you put the link up (or PM) it? I'm on Maxima.org and I'd love to read some of the posts and reactions there. If you haven't posted anything about this site or Basjoos then you should.

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by ShadeTreeMech

I was reading around in the Maxima forum and came across something that I thought ya'll would also find funny.
Quoted from Maxima.org
Quote:
Originally Posted by SlkMax
"I was wondering what are upgrades that we can do better our gas mileage?

Does intake help? "

You want to modify the car to get better gas mileage? Good luck. I'm sure someone here has an effective, cheap way to do better than Nissan and their hundreds of thousands of dollars spent employeeing engineers and technical experts to do things like research and development to maximize the efficiency of their vehicles in light of stricter fleet fuel regulations tougher competitors in the market.

I almost laughed my butt off at the irony of those words. I wonder if this is a common misperception in the general public?

Wonder if they would freak that I coud get the mileage I get with nearly no mods, other than a partial hot air intake

What irony?

Manufacturers strive to make what customers will buy. Even though there are many models to choose from, each model still must have broad enough appeal to be worth the investment to build. Most of the time, fuel economy is not a top priority for customers. Mfgs also have to conform to govt regs., some of which influence fe. All manufacturers have known how to build 1L type vehicles for decades but evidently the business cases for making them hadn't been made.

That said, I do fault the mfgs for not being as pro-active re: fe as they could have been.

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by Red Lion

I would say it's a silly thing to say, but it's not silly, just ignorant. The mind of the guy that said it isn't open enough to realize that it's possible to get better than an "average" MPG.

Someone said that?

[Red Lion]

^?

[Frank Lee]

Yes, you. Who said that?

[Red Lion]

From post 1:

Originally Posted by ShadeTreeMech

I was reading around in the Maxima forum and came across something that I thought ya'll would also find funny.
Quoted from Maxima.org

You want to modify the car to get better gas mileage? Good luck. I'm sure someone here has an effective, cheap way to do better than Nissan and their hundreds of thousands of dollars spent employeeing engineers and technical experts to do things like research and development to maximize the efficiency of their vehicles in light of stricter fleet fuel regulations tougher competitors in the market.

[orange4boy]

How 'bout splitting off funny stories about parents/old folks and their cars to the lounge...

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post171939

[ShadeTreeMech]

I've been reading some of your posts, redlion, and noticed you're nearly in my neck of the woods. I live in Harrison but go to Missiouri quite frequently. Small world, huh?

I'll post on the thread I read that on, but i think it was an old thread. i suppose I'll find out.